Vatican City is frequently mocked for its tiny size. But no other sovereign state in the world is guiding a nation with a population 30,000 times its own through one of the worst crises in its history. That is what the Holy See is currently doing in Venezuela.
Why is Rome taking such an interest in a state 5,000 miles away? Venezuela is the 15th most populous Catholic nation on earth. A Venezuelan, Fr Arturo Sosa, has just been elected head of the Jesuits, the world’s largest religious order. Another Venezuelan, Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, will receive the red hat next week. Before he was appointed Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin served as nuncio to Caracas. And as the first Latin American pope, Francis is eager to help one of the continent’s most troubled nations.
